Sister's Wedding Story...

HEY! I know you all have wanted to hear about the wedding so I'll tell what I can in the time I have here.

Everyone arrived on time and in style to this destination wedding in South Carolina, Hilton Head Island to be exact. The day was beautiful: it was sun-shiney and warm, cool breeze from the ocean and people stopped to see the wedding. I spent the day with Anna and she did fine until it was time to line up! I heard her say she was the most relaxed she had felt in months while we were in her room getting our hair done, but that was replaced by butterflies in the tummy when the time was approaching. =)

All the grandmas and mom looked GREAT! I have pics of mom and dad that are AWESOME! I made them kiss in one shot and it turned out really well. The boys did a great job ushering the moms and grandmas to their seating. Both Tim and Steven did really well that weekend and I couldn't be prouder!!!!

When I got the pictures developed I got them on a CD so I can share them more easily. I still can't find time to put them on the site: I HATE MYSELF FOR THAT!

My college friend came down and played the violin on the sand and he did a great job. We walked down the sand to the arch they made where the boys and Mike were standing and I watched Mike try to keep himself together and that was funny and hard to do at the same time. If he wanted to he could have seen Anna from far away and watch her walk all the way down to where the chairs and aisle were, but he waited until she was standing with dad at the start of the chairs. Since I had been with Anna and knew what she looked like (NEVER BETTER! Daniel, you would have lost it! Stunning doesn't start to describe her beauty!), I watched Mike start to cry and that made me ball! I'm so glad the pastor started to pray right away because I had to yank my tissue out of my ____________ while everyone's eyes were closed!

The service was short, about 20 minutes, and went well. The kiss at the end was great too! After we marched out we waited for everyone to make it to the courtyard where Cameron was playing his music and there were chairs and little froo-froo foods and drinks while the families stayed and got pictures on the beach.

We all joined the party there in the outdoor courtyard and got to see everyone and take more pictures with cousins I haven’t seen ever and ones I haven’t seen in 11 years.

The reception was nice and laid back. The meal was chicken or roast beef and the cake was many different kinds of cheesecake. Mike’s best man and father made a toast/speech, and so did dad and I. Dad had EVERYBODY rolling! It was GREAT! So funny........but the good thing was he said it like a roller coaster: he would make everybody start to cry then crack a joke. Then he would get serious and say more wonderful things about Anna and his marriage to mom and just when you think you're going to loose it, he would make another JOKE! I was a mess at the end.

And the Truth Will...

SET YOU FREE! SET YOU FREE! Hallelujah! Two Sunday nights ago Steve and I let the youth group know about our ever-developing friendship/romantic involvement with each other! That was great. We made large flash-card signs and did a skit with those: having a conversation back and forth. They started to get the point about halfway thru. I’m glad they know now. That means I don’t have to lie to them anymore! I hated that. After we were done and Steve and I talked about how God has brought us into the friendship we have and now the added bonus of ‘lover’ on top of that I apologized for not being honest with the girls. There were some times when I needed to cover tracks rather aggressively which called for not being honest all the time. Man, I hated to do that. But it’s all out in the open now.

Adults at the church where this youth group is have started to share with Steve and I about how long they’ve known about our relationship, but respected our planning and privacy with the matter not to push it further than we wanted to go at the time.

We are taking steps everyday to glory in the place God has us today and not rush into future plans. Relationships take time to build, even though Steve and I have known each other for over a year, building a relationship with these kinds of implications takes a different measure of attention and care. It is our fullest intention to prayerfully and graciously accept God’s leading in our lives: together.

Weighing me down…

I think at this point I must be honest with some of my male friends. I have been hurt recently by some weight comments you’ve made about women. It doesn’t sit well with girls to continuously have this be the topic of conversation. Yes, humans are wired to notice physical beauty: especially men. God made us this way and that is ok. But beauty doesn’t stop there.

It is my belief that when a man is so focused on outward beauty it will take quite a bit to find a lasting relationship when such a fickle thing is the main focus. I am saddened to fathom the numerous potential relationships that men could have with wonderful women that are disregarded simply because she isn’t a size 4 or STUNNING.

Women who fall in the middle of the ‘beauty spectrum’ are most likely going to be more down to earth, full of great character, and think more of others than themselves than ones whose goal everyday is to out-dress and out-make-up the next girl. If men are egotistical and want praise and support and attention from women, but the women they want are spending too much time on themselves in thought and action, then good luck with that.

Not really =( DANG

Yea, about my blog. I got all excited because I had a lot of pictures at work and a good scanner, and some time, so I thought I'd be able to get some images on my site, but I'd have to download the picture server onto my work computer and that isn't ok. So I have to use my own computer, which is fine. But it adds another step. Transference. I have to make digital files of all the pictures I want to post, save them to a disk and then upload them on my computer and I haven't made time for it. Frankly. And I want to! Oh I want to, and I know it's important because you all want to see what is going on in my life and I've taken so many pictures this year and there is nothing to show for it. As far as the blog goes.

I suck at picture posting!